He's played extremely well in a reduced role in Dallas. I think he'd be great as the backup C (ok, he's more PF than C, but in this day and age, he's definitely strong enough and definitely supplies help D and rebounding), who could also slide to PF for some matchups (like playing Memphis). Again, I think this would be a great option if the PF we get is someone like Carl Landry, who you do not want to rely on for interior presence or defending bruisers.

I actually agree.

Elton brand is almost exactly what we need if we are choosing to go the route of giving the majority of the minutes to JV and Amir (which we should). He can come in and play limited minutes, while at the same time provide leadership which we desperately need

My suggestion would be to trade Andrea Bargnani + DeMar DeRozan to the Lakers for Pau Gasol + filler or pick.

From a talent perspective, I think the Raptors will end up losing this trade. DeRozan is an emerging player in his own right, Bargnani is still a 7 footer with range, while Gasol is an aging player who has had his fair share of injuries.

In terms of long-term flexibility, the Raptors are saving $40.5 M in salaries. Gasol is a massive expiring contract @ $19M and he is set to expire at the end of next season. This leaves the Raptors with approximately $66 M in committed salary next season assuming Kleiza gets amnestied, Gray and Lucas pick up their player options & the Raptors pick up Lowry's option.

Fields will not produce the same #'s as DeRozan, but he does however bring defense, IQ, passing & some shot creating. If he can work with the Raptors shooting coach in the off season & improve his shooting to a level that is deemed respectable, we have ourselves a pretty good role player.

This will also open up the roster for Ross & I can only hope that he puts in the work in the off season. In Gasol, Valanciunas has a veteran mentor with championship pedigree and not to mention, Gasol is a very skilled player. Gasol will also allow the Raptors to have somewhat of an inside game.

Barring injuries & assuming the coaching situation improves (whether it's Casey or another coach), this roster is good enough to compete for a playoff spot somewhere between the 5-8 range.

The most important value this trade presents is the ability to get out of our financial situation created by Colangelo handing out massive contracts to average NBA players.

... You can picture our situation NEXT summer. We have a lottery pick, a massive expiring contract in Rudy Gay, Valanciunas and Ross in rookie deals & a TON of cap room. Suddenly, there is a light at the end of the tunnel as insurance should we fall victims of yet another disappointing season.

First of all, the Raptors need a new head coach. I like Casey, he seems like a real nice guy i just don't think he's an NBA caliber coach.

Second, they need a starting 4. Paul Millsap or Al Jefferson should be their #1 target this offseason. Backup plan, Elton Brand.

Third, they need a backup PG and a backup C. Lucas and Gray are not good enough.

Finally, they need to surround these guys with veteran players. Bring in some leadership because leadership i think is lacking on this team.

I agree with everything you said except the bolded line.

The jury's still out on Casey. He had a lockout season with no training camp, and a roster overhaul this year right in the middle of the playoff push.

I think that he has done an OK job, but I think that he needs to seriously change the theme next year with the team. You cannot keep going with the "pound the rock" idea. He needs to start instilling an attitude of "we are good now and are improving" and not necessarily that "we need to get better".

There's a subtle difference but I think that everything we've heard from him is basically the same thing over and over again, and teams need a change in how the message is delivered

I am a big Cavaliers fan and have seen Marreese Speights play over a dozen games since we acquired him.

The guy is good as a fourth big but there is no way I want him as the first big of the bench if we are to compete. He loves to shoot and will do so every time he thinks he's open. So he ended up as a high usage, jump shooter who takes a lot of long twos early in the shot clock.

While he is a good rebounder, Marreese is a below average defender, both 1on1 and has a help defender.

Good luck with getting any of that with the diarrhea milkshake of a financial situation we have

A whole bunch of this.

This is the downside of the Rudy Gay trade that most posters chose to either ignore or didn't understand. The Raptors have virtually 0 financial flexibility over the next two seasons to improve their roster, no first round pick this season and not much for trade assets unless they make Ross or JV available. Any talk of going after Millsap/Jefferson/anyone significant this offseason died the day they acquired Rudy.

This is the downside of the Rudy Gay trade that most posters chose to either ignore or didn't understand. The Raptors have virtually 0 financial flexibility over the next two seasons to improve their roster, no first round pick this season and not much for trade assets unless they make Ross or JV available. Any talk of going after Millsap/Jefferson/anyone significant this offseason died the day they acquired Rudy.

I was in favour of the Gay trade only on the assumption that more moves would follow (like the acquisition of Boozer). I honestly believed that a core of Lowry, Gay and Boozer would've been good enough to squeak into the playoffs...if not this year, next year and the one after.

Raptor fans would then get to watch a few years of competitive basketball, and in the summer of 2015, we would have $44.6 million coming off the books (Gay, Boozer and Fields).

Acquiring Gay and doing nothing at the deadline was definitely a head-scratcher.

I was in favour of the Gay trade only on the assumption that more moves would follow (like the acquisition of Boozer). I honestly believed that a core of Lowry, Gay and Boozer would've been good enough to squeak into the playoffs...if not this year, next year and the one after.

Raptor fans would then get to watch a few years of competitive basketball, and in the summer of 2015, we would have $44.6 million coming off the books (Gay, Boozer and Fields).

Acquiring Gay and doing nothing at the deadline was definitely a head-scratcher.

I was strongly against the acquisition of Gay for the reasons I stated above. I looked ahead to this offseason and the next and failed to see how the team would get over that next hump. I basically thought the Raptors were willingly signing up for the 7-9 spot in the East for the next two seasons, which has been described as the worst spot to be in pro basketball time and time again.

Once the Gay deal went through however I thought the Raptors acquiring Boozer should have been a no-brainer. I too thought that Boozer's contract lined up well with some of the team's other big deals, and acquiring him would have given the Raptors a two year window to try and win a playoff series or two, followed by the summer of 2015 where they would have a TON of cap space (and hopefully a repaired reputation around the NBA).

Can we begin to explore the possibility that the Bulls reported willingness to do a Boozer-for-Bargnani trade may have been exaggerated?

Thing is, I'm not sure it's about 'filling the holes' as much as it is, 'does this group of players make sense at all?'

The Raps have two guys on the wing who are basically the same player (with one guy being the poor man's version). They have a PG, who despite having some good games, has had zero impact on winning and losing. They have no bench. They have big man 3-4 years away from starting his prime. And they still do not have a top of the food chain player.

Yeah, I mean I guess you could slap some bandaids on and try to plow ahead but where does that even get this team?

This is exactly what I was afraid of after the Gay trade. Another one of BC's half-assed plans where he simply won't commit either way to winning or rebuilding. Personally, now that the die has been cast with the Gay deal, I want to see them go for it. Put Val and Ross and the 2014 first on sale and see what they get you.

I was strongly against the acquisition of Gay for the reasons I stated above. I looked ahead to this offseason and the next and failed to see how the team would get over that next hump. I basically thought the Raptors were willingly signing up for the 7-9 spot in the East for the next two seasons, which has been described as the worst spot to be in pro basketball time and time again.

Once the Gay deal went through however I thought the Raptors acquiring Boozer should have been a no-brainer. I too thought that Boozer's contract lined up well with some of the team's other big deals, and acquiring him would have given the Raptors a two year window to try and win a playoff series or two, followed by the summer of 2015 where they would have a TON of cap space (and hopefully a repaired reputation around the NBA).

Can we begin to explore the possibility that the Bulls reported willingness to do a Boozer-for-Bargnani trade may have been exaggerated?

MLSE unwilling to go into luxury tax themselves? Colangelo still refusing to part with Bargnani?

No the offer of Boozer/Nate for Bargnani/JL3 from Chicago media. I don't recall any reports of luxury tax avoidance by MLSE or Colangelo refusing to part with Bargnani. Although 7 years would certainly beg to differ.

I could see JL3 wanting to be kept instead of Nate by Raptors. It was also rumoured Chicago wanted JL3 as he was a fav of Thibideau and locker room last season.

I could also see the Raptors wanting a 1st - and Chicago unwilling to include.

Also in off season, straight Bargnani/Boozer trade possible assuming cap/tax go up a few million and Kleiza amnestied. Straight trade was not possible at this time.

I don't have a very good understanding of the CBA, but wouldn't it make more sense to offer either Milsap or Jefferson a big contract over Boozer? I mean if I was going to give a max contract out I would rather give it to Milsap or Jefferson and most likely neither of them would be asking for the kind of $$ left on Boozers contract.

No the offer of Boozer/Nate for Bargnani/JL3 from Chicago media. I don't recall any reports of luxury tax avoidance by MLSE or Colangelo refusing to part with Bargnani. Although 7 years would certainly beg to differ.

I could see JL3 wanting to be kept instead of Nate by Raptors. It was also rumoured Chicago wanted JL3 as he was a fav of Thibideau and locker room last season.

I could also see the Raptors wanting a 1st - and Chicago unwilling to include.

Also in off season, straight Bargnani/Boozer trade possible assuming cap/tax go up a few million and Kleiza amnestied. Straight trade was not possible at this time.

Is it late June/early July yet?

Sorry, I worded that improperly. I was asking why you thought it didn't go down then, which you pretty much answered with the second half of your reply.

I don't have a very good understanding of the CBA, but wouldn't it make more sense to offer either Milsap or Jefferson a big contract over Boozer? I mean if I was going to give a max contract out I would rather give it to Milsap or Jefferson and most likely neither of them would be asking for the kind of $$ left on Boozers contract.

You can only offer unrestricted free agents big contract offers based upon how much money you have under the salary cap.

The Raptors have $73M on the books for next year. To realistically have a shot at any of those players they'd likely have to have just $46M on the books for next year. In short, it isn't happening.

SIgn and trade would work but you are giving up assets (and Bargnani is not going to cut it).

Would amnestying Bargs and waiveing Kleiza do the job? Keeping in mind the offer to either Jefferson or Milsap would be less than a max contract.

Even if waiving Kleiza removed his cap implications (which it doesn't) they still wouldn't be even close to making a competitive offer. Bargs is on the books for about 10 mil and Kleiza for about 5. If we somehow got both of them off the books, that would put us at 58 million. As Matt mentioned, we need to be around the mid 40's to make a realistic offer (and even then that doesn't guarantee anything).